Don’t forget to put the hose in the sink!

January 2022

On the Wednesday following the Rogito and our Saturday adventure with Ikea, Emma & Volario were coming to deliver some beautiful antique furniture.

I found Emma one cold December morning while lying in bed in Seattle, scanning facebook and saw that she posted a BEAUTIFUL wardrobe in the Living in Italy FB group. Emma & Volario are the owners of Tutto Torno Antiques and from everything I could read, they had MANY happy customers. So I took a chance, reached out and inquired about the wardrobe. Emma sent more photos and the dimensions via email and I knew I had to have it…SOLD! So begins my love affair with beautiful antique furniture, along with other antique bibs & bobs, and a new friendship with Emma.

Back to December 2021…

Several days later, Emma posted a beautiful china hutch / credenza and a chest, more things I knew would make Casale Giulietta a home. This is where the new tradition of creating a Dexter Pile in Emma’s back room began. Over the coming weeks I would find many other fun items, not to mention 2 more wardrobes (armoirs) – there is absolutely no way I am putting those crappy Ikea wall units in my 100 year old home!

When we arrived in Italy in January, we took a roadtrip to Tutto Torno to see what other delights we could find – they are in Montaione, about 2 hours away. It was fun to finally meet them in person and while their shop is small, it is filled with lots of great things. They also have two other work and storage areas either waiting for V to perform his magic in turning them into beautiful works of art, or waiting for space to be showcased in the actual store. We bought a few other items, including a blanket box, a coffee table and an old bocci set, then confirmed the actual delivery date.

Monday-Wednesday of that week we were busy building beds, dressers, nightstands, etc. – working through the mound of Ikea boxes we managed to get from Rome to Monteleone. We each worked in a separate room to divide and conquer. Jess & Andrew both had on headphones so they couldn’t hear a thing. I threw a load of laundry in our new washing machine in the downstairs bathroom under the stairs – the weather looked decent enough that if I got them hanging on the line early enough, they might just dry before the temperatures dropped in the early evening. I headed back upstairs to work on building the bed while I listened for Emma & V to arrive.

I heard a truck horn and started to head downstairs when I realized I forgot to stick the washing machine hose in the sink to drain. As a result, there was water gushing out of the hose flailing around wildly spewing water everywhere. Most of the floor in the bathroom and under the stairs was flooded. I was drenched, hollering for Jess to come help, and Volario was knocking at the front door. Jess ran to open the door which enabled V to see me soaking wet, frantically hollering the F word while trying to soak up the water with our cheap white Ikea towels. Emma entered through the old kitchen door, took one look and asked Jess if her mom was ok. BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

After I regrouped, I showed Emma & V around the house, explaining where each of the wardrobes would go, etc. We each then set about our business once again and I learned that our washer has a Cloudy Day mode, which enables a second spin cycle to get as much water out as possible to help the towels dry. Yeah, it was going to take a few of those and some extra spin cycles for sure.

The magic in the beautiful furniture I bought isn’t just in their beauty, but also that many of the pieces don’t actually have any screws. The wardrobes are built like a perfect wood jigsaw puzzle, with pieces fitting together and locking into place, and then dropping the top on to secure everything into a solid piece of furniture. Of course that means taking the utmost care and a lot of hand & foot work when moving them, but this I had no problem with.

I had purchased so many large pieces of furniture that Emma & V had to rent a very large truck to bring it all to the house. Volario had never driven a truck this big and wasn’t quite sure how to back it back up the long narrow drive to then head home so Andrew willingly volunteered to take the reins. I guided him up from behind while Jess guided his front to keep from scraping the stone wall, it was a masterful piece of teamwork. V was relieved, we all said our goodbyes, and before I knew it, Jess had confiscated the blanket box for her very own! What can I say, the girl has great taste!

A few days later, we closed up the house, had our last dinner in Orvieto and headed out in the morning to fly home, stopping in Viterbo for lunch and some exploration before the long journey home. It was weird leaving but I knew I would be back very soon. A presto!!!